


(Make) The Most Of It

by anastasiapullingteeth



Category: The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Character Death, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 03:49:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16526732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anastasiapullingteeth/pseuds/anastasiapullingteeth
Summary: Flash and Peter meet again years later after that rushed goodbye at their graduation; old feelings Flash thought were long forgotten resurface to mess up with their new friendship.





	(Make) The Most Of It

**Author's Note:**

> It’s 2018 and I wrote a quick spiderflash fic because I got The Feels™. This is based solely on the movies ([this deleted scene in particular](http://amazingspiderfield.tumblr.com/post/177567161174/gwenstcy-another-satisfied-customer-that-was)). Like, I didn’t even _attempt_ to make a single reference to the comics. I love one (1) boy and that’s TASM!Flash Thompson.

Flash knew he shouldn’t do it; he knew he had no business saying goodbye to a kid he’d tortured for years, that he shouldn’t push the limits of the cordial relationship he’d recently established with Peter Parker, that he shouldn’t use Gwen as an excuse to approach the other boy. Flash knew he shouldn’t do it, and yet, he was striding towards the spot where Gwen and Parker were having an intimate conversation between a sea of blue fabric.

The expression on Peter’s face when Flash walked into his line of vision was a weird mixture of relief and wariness. The blond thought maybe the couple had been arguing before he reached them, but he focused on Parker shifting away from them when Flash told Gwen he’d gotten into Dakota State. He couldn’t help but notice, too, the trembling in Peter’s voice as he declared he was proud of Flash, or the way he flinched when the taller boy directed his eyes at him and pulled him into a hug.

They’d become sort of friends after that incident that’d ended with Flash being violently shoved against the lockers, but Peter was still a little reluctant to be around his once-bully, probably afraid of the other boy suddenly changing his mind and deciding Peter was more useful as a punching bag than a friend. It was often thanks to Gwen smoothing the tension between them that Flash managed to exchange a few words with Peter, but even with all the caution the other boy unconsciously showed when he was around, he was kind to Flash and smiled openly at him as a constant reassurance that all was forgiven.

At first, Flash tried to act with Peter like he did with his other friends, but he realized pretty soon that wasn't the best option, since his excitement usually translated into aggressiveness in Peter's mind. He decided then for a more gentle approach, which turned out to be more fruitful: Peter humored him more and Flash... well, there was something that felt achingly similar to butterflies in his stomach every time Peter looked at him with those big, doe eyes, but he’d never stopped to think about what that meant. It was that feeling what had give him the courage to approach Parker one last time before leaving Queens for good.

“I love you,“ Flash said honestly into the crook of Peter’s neck, tightening his arms around the other boy and basking in the scent of his messy, brown hair. It was a platonic "love you”, Flash was sure of that, but it still felt heavy on his tongue.

“Wow. I love you, too,” he heard Peter say and he wondered if he meant it.

Flash left with a void in his stomach he wasn’t able to explain, but a smile on his face that masked pretty well the dread he felt towards that bittersweet goodbye. He didn’t know he wouldn’t see Peter Parker again until almost three years later, when the blond came back to New York after receiving the belated news that Gwen Stacy was dead.

*

The reunion between Flash and Peter was awkward and shadowed by a veil of sadness that neither of them could ignore. They’d bumped into each other turning around a corner and Flash had asked Peter if he’d like to drink something in the new coffee shop across the street. They were now sitting in a small table with steamy mugs between their hands, Flash chewing his lip nervously while Peter looked out of the window, completely lost in his head. Flash steeled himself and cleared his throat.

“So!” he said, feigning cheerfulness, and almost forgetting what he was doing there when Peter’s teary eyes stared back at him. “Uhm… What have you been up to, man?”

Peter snorted, shrugging a shoulder. “Not much, really. Some freelancing here and there. You know. Trying to survive.”

“Yeah… It’s been hard, isn’t it?”  _ Without her _ , he didn’t add. “You look like you could use more than a few meals. No offense.”

Flash had said it as a joke —to which Peter had actually laughed—, but it did seem like he hadn’t slept in months and hadn’t seen a decent meal since he was nineteen. He was still as surprisingly ripped as he’d been during their last year in high school, but the dark marks under his eyes told the story of all the sleepless nights his old friend had spent since the last time they'd seen each other. However, and even though Flash didn't intended to be a creep, he couldn't help but notice Peter, as slim as he was, hid muscles that were genuinely something to drool over under the old swetashirt he was wearing; Flash ducked his head to hide the blush that tinted his cheeks at the images that crossed his head starring Peter in incredibly tight clothes.

“How long are you staying in the city?” Peter’s voice cut through his thoughts, jolting Flash back into reality.

“Uh.” Great, just ten minutes together and Parker wanted to get rid of him already; Flash couldn’t really blame him, could he? Peter was a saint for even accepting to talk to him after the hell he’d forced him to live when they were teenagers. “A month,” he answered, looking down at his mug.

“Then we better make the most of it, right?” Flash smiled shyly and nodded his head.

*

As part of his job in The Daily Bugle, Parker had to cover events and presentations aside from the pictures he took of Spider-Man. He was assigned to a random ceremony the next day of his conversation in the coffee shop, and he thought Flash could tag along while he worked. When the function was over, Peter took him for a walk in Central Park; it was while they talked about everything and nothing that Flash finally came to terms with the fact that Peter Parker wasn't really the boy he thought he knew when they attended Midtown High School together.

He seemed more mature than other people his age, like the kind of person that carried the world over his shoulders and had been doing it for longer than anyone should be forced to. Flash could relate to that, or at least there was a time when he felt like something heavier than himself was going to crush him every time his father got home after a bad day at work. And sometimes it did, but during those times, he had Puny Parker to take revenge against the universe. Flash had never bothered to look past what made Peter an easy target until that day in the locker hall; after that, he couldn't stop staring.

In the last few months he spent in school with Peter and Gwen, he regretted the black eyes and the broken nose he'd giving the shorter boy since the moment he decided he deserved to be punished for what Flash was going through. He admired Peter for putting up with everything even when he couldn't win, and as the days went by, he continuously wondered if that was what he found both annoying and fascinating about his classmate: it took him his first year in Dakota State to figure out he might have developed a slight crush on Peter and only a day to confirm that crush was still there after bumping into him three years later. Maybe this time things could be different.

*

They met for lunch a few times in the upcoming days, and even arranged to go for walks around the city. Flash didn't want to think about them as “dates” because even he could see that was pushing it a little too far —he was almost certain Peter was straight to begin with—, but he wasn't about to deny the warm feeling that installed in his chest every time Peter brushed his fingers against his as they walked or took his arm to guide him in the right direction.

Flash had tried a few one-arm hugs here and there that were fast enough to be interpreted as friendly, but the more he did it, the more his arm lingered around Peter's shoulders. Peter didn't seem to mind, so he kept doing it, but maybe it was stupid of him to assume that was a free pass to give him a quick kiss on the cheek when he said goodbye before entering the subway. Peter had been incredibly surprised and acted all awkward after, but he’d greeted Flash with a kiss on the cheek the next time they met for their not-date at the aquarium; Flash even forgot about Peter being late again.

Because that was the thing about Peter: he was always late, either because he'd fallen asleep or because he'd gotten caught in traffic or some other random incident that always delayed him. But Flash didn't mind; Peter always did his best to be there and spent the rest of the day with him, so it was all good.

Until the day Peter didn't show up.

They were supposed to meet in a pizza place that had just opened in Queens, but Peter didn't text him to say he was running late neither he answered Flash's calls. The blond had been waiting three hours without a sign of the other guy's whereabouts when he finally decided to walk back home, glancing absentmindedly at a T.V. of a store that showed New York's favorite superhero facing some thugs inside a bank. He sat down on his bed and glared at his phone, blaming it for the lack of texts and Peter's unanswered calls; he didn't hear of the other man the next day and he finally gave up.

There was just one conclusion to draw out of this: Peter Parker didn't want to have anything to do with him.

*

After almost an entire week of total radio silence, Peter showed up at Flash's door.

Flash was packing his bags when he heard a soft knock. His flight back to South Dakota left the next day and he still had to take care of a few thing; he had no time for surprise visitors. He opened the door with a low grunt and a frown that disappeared the moment he saw Peter's brown eyes looking up at him with regret. Flash's hand tightened around the door knob.

"Hey," Peter whispered. "Uhm... Can we talk?"

Flash shrugged and let him in. "Take a seat," he offered, pointing at a chair. He pushed his bag to the end of the bed to make space for himself and directed his attention towards Peter. The shorter man seemed nervous, but above all, he looked worn out. He kept rubbing his hands, trying to find the right words, but remained standing even when his trembling legs were probably begging him to let them rest. "Are you okay?" Flash asked. He was still hurt after being ditched at the pizza place, but the  dark marks under Peter's eyes were worrying.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Uhm..." he trailed off. "Look, I'm so sorry. I know I failed you, I was- I got caught in the middle of something and-" Peter rambled but Flash was staring at his face, completely taken aback by the guy's state and the distant memories it evoked.

"Your lip," he interrupted. 

"What?"

"You split your lip."

Peter lifted a hand to cover his mouth, as he averted his eyes. "Ah, yeah," he affirmed dismissively "I... I was, uhm... I was just-"

"Wait. You were in that thing in the bank?"

The robbery Flash had seen on T.V. had escalated into a hostage situation were Spider-Man had been seriously injured protecting the hostages. Flash didn't know the details, but he'd heard someone had tried to blown the vault with the people still inside the bank, and the web-slinger had taken most of the damage by being exposed to the explosion at a very short distance. It made sense Peter was there, judging not only by the split lip, but also by the fading scratches he still could see on his neck and hands.

"You were there, weren't you?" Flash asked again.

Peter hesitated. "Uhm… Yeah? I was there."

"Oh, my God..." Flash gasped, standing up and approaching Peter. "Oh, my God! Of course! I should’ve guessed it! Why didn’t you tell me?" 

Peter paled noticeably and took a step back, eyeing the window. "Tell you… what?"

"That you were one of the hostages! That explains so much, you should’ve told me! I thought you'd forgotten about- about... the pizza," he stammered, rubbing the back of his head. After an awkward silence, he added, "Spider-Man saved you, didn't he? He was the one that got you guys out?"

Peter smiled sideways. "Yeah, he was."

"Dude’s still at it, isn’t he?"

"Yeah, he doesn't seem to learn his lesson", Peter commented rolling his eyes. "So... we're good?" 

"We good," Flash assured quickly, suddenly feeling stupid for thinking Peter didn't want to hang out with him.

The other man nodded with a smile and looked around them, to the bags on the bed to the empty closet, and back to Flash again. "I see you've packed. You weren't going to go without saying goodbye, were you?"

"I was. But!" he added before Peter could protest. "In my defense, you did stand me up, so we're even."

"I deserved that."

Flash was reminded of the last time they said goodbye to each other. He wasn't sure if those were really simpler times or if it only felt that way because they were graduating, but he thought they were happy back then, convinced that they had the entire world ahead of them and the passion to achieve what they wanted; he didn't feel that same optimism anywhere in that old, rented room where the friends stood in silence, both facing each other but with their minds far away from the present.

Flash had spent long hours regretting he didn't at least try to talk to Peter about what he felt; that morning as he packed his things, he convinced himself that, even if he had the chance, he wasn't going to say a word about it. Peter would be much better if he never found out Flash Thompson was head over heels in love with him.

When he came back to the present time, Peter was searching something in his face, narrowing his eyes. "Before you go..." he murmured, shortening the distance between them and lifting a hand to the back of Flash's head. "I'm just gonna..." Peter hesitated for a second before finally pulling Flash down and laying a quick kiss on the corner of his lips. He let go of him immediately after and step back, waiting for a reaction. Flash knew exactly what he needed to do: He cupped Peter's face with both hands and kissed him properly.

Flash had imagined a few times before what it would be like to kiss Peter Parker. He'd even done it once or twice after punching him in the face, which was probably really weird, but it just sort of happened. None of what he'd pictured back then came anywhere close to what it really was to finally taste Peter's mouth on him.  Peter didn't react right away and even looked a little scared when Flash had moved his hands to his face, but once he caught up on what was going on, he kissed back just as fervently. His hands were fisted in Flash's shirt, pulling him closer as Flash ran his tongue over the split on Peter's bottom lip.

"Wow," Peter gasped when they broke the kiss, still close enough to feel the other's breath on his face.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah... Do it again?"

Flash complied happily.

 *

Peter stayed with him all night and took him to the airport the next day. They didn't say much while they waited, but when his flight was announced, Peter kissed him goodbye and saw him go from the hallway. When Flash opened the door to his apartment the nex day, his phone rang.

"Yes?" he panted, still tangled in the straps of the bag he'd stumbled with.

"Hey," Peter's voice came from the other side. "I just wanted to hear you. Your voice. To know if you'd made it home in one piece and all that."

"Miss me already, Parker?"

"You wish."

Flash smiled knowingly, shaking his head. He kinda missed him already. No one needed to know, though.


End file.
